Chelsea star ‘joins’ Man City as Romano reveals fee in ‘here we go’ as Blues clearout gathers steam

Manchester City have reportedly agreed to pay Chelsea £25million plus £5m in performance-related add-ons for Mateo Kovacic.

The 29-year-old Croatian international joined the Blues from Real Madrid in 2019 for around £40m after a successful loan spell in the 2018/19 campaign.

He has been excellent during his time at Stamford Bridge but his injury problems and contract situation mean the Premier League club are open to selling Kovacic this summer.

Chelsea are looking to offload a high number of stars in the summer transfer window with a focus on players entering the final two years of their contract, with Kovacic’s deal set to expire in 2024.

His availability attracted the interest of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who is looking for a new midfielder after missing out on new Real Madrid signing Jude Bellingham.

Kovacic is a pretty similar player to Bellingham, making him an ideal alternative for a fraction of the price Los Blancos paid for the England midfielder.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed City’s interest before the end of the 22/23 season and has now reported that a fee has been agreed.

Romano said on Tuesday that a deal was close after Guardiola’s side agreed personal terms with Kovacic ‘two weeks ago’.

And on Wednesday morning, the Italian journalist said ‘here we go’ for a £30m deal.

He wrote on Twitter: ‘Mateo Kovacic joins Manchester City from Chelsea, fee agreed and done deal — here we go!

‘Agreement between clubs just reached for £30m fee. Personal terms agreed two weeks ago, Kovacic only wanted Man City. Medicals in the next days. New midfielder for Pep.’

Romano later added that City will pay Chelsea a ‘guaranteed’ £25m with ‘£5m also included in add-ons to be activated when City win titles’, meaning they are not dependent on the player’s performances.

Chelsea have all but sorted the sales of five first-team players on Wednesday alone.

Romano has also reported the sales of Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech and Kalidou Koulibaly, who are all off to Saudi Arabia, where N’Golo Kante will definitely be playing next season after agreeing a deal with Al Ittihad.

Meanwhile, Kai Havertz is edging closer to a move to London rivals Arsenal for a fee in the region of £65m.

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